Dear Prof Marek,

I believe so too. It has been a long time since I read on this subject. The ability to learn language has been described by  Noam Chomsky. in his theory on language acquisition device (LAD)- there is an innate mechanism or process that allows children to develop language skills. Chomsky suggested  there is a universal grammar which is innate in the human race  that enable human to be receptive to the common features of all languages. On the other hand there is this theory by Whorf, B.L on linguistic relativity hypothesis. While both theories are mostly used for first language acquisition studies, second language theories are mostly  mostly on teaching and learning  such as Skinner- Behaviorist, conditioning, imitating and such, or cognitive theory  where language learning is more conscious and reasoned. How does Chomsky LAD and Whorf  theories linked/fare in to second or foreign language acquisition.  What are the recent development on language acquisition theory on this issue?

I think it's a definite yes. Writing skill is very different from other skills such as listening which can be trained almost mechanically. Because it involves to a great degree one's thinking abilities, logic patterns and sentimental values. After all, writing is never about fancy words and complicated grammar, but rather the writer's ideas and emotions. Imagine this, I am not a good writer in Chinese (my mother tongue), then even if I have a complete mastery of English the language, all my compositions would just be piles of sentences prefabricated  with empty expressions and memorized chunks. A Good piece of writing of any sort, a speech for example, should be capable of delivering its idea to its readers (audiences). No matter in which language, in order to be a good writer, one has to be a good thinker first, which is why I think the writing (thinking) ability in a primary language is very important while learning to write in other languages. 

My own experience as a learner of a 2nd language tell me that if you have good writting skills in your native language, you can exhibit them in the second. With a low speaking habilities in English, I could satisfactorily pursue my studies in Latin and Greek, thanks to writting (none of of my proffesors at my dear University were spanish speakers as a first or second language). We transfer the writing habits in the first to the second, such as: editing, consulting dictionary, avoiding lexical repetition, and particularly, the conciusness of both your own common mistakes and the cultural misunderstanding.

Hi Michael,

There is no evidence that in terms of the content and structure of writing, L1 competence can directly affect L2. However, there are transferable skills in writing which can benefit L2 acquisition from L1. In particular, the psycho-motor skills associated with writing will definitely be of benefit. Similarly, skills relating to structuring writing outputs, content arrangement and structure can also cut across.

I think the answer is yes (of course I don't mean that those who are not good writers in their first language will show the same inability in second language). But those who are skillful writers in L1 will most probably be good writers in L2. Because they have the same power of thinking and reasoning which are critical requirements for writing. They have once mastered skills for playing with words and structures, all they need is to be introduced to vocabulary and structural patterns of L2, which i think will be absorbed quickly. The rest will be done subconsciously by their powerful minds.   

Could it depend on the writer's L1 & L2 proficiency? In a situation where L1 is fully developed, but you are a L2 beginner (lower and maybe even intermediate proficiency group), I would have to agree with everyone here when they say you cannot do in L2 what you are not capable to do in L1, so writing ability in L2 will depend a lot on writing ability in L1. In my case, however, I did my graduate studies in a foreign country studying in L2 and writing all of my papers in L2 at a level that exceeded whatever writing I had done in my L1. Therefore, I guess that depending on context one could write better in L2 than L1. I haven't read anything about this though, so it's just my personal experience. I can also think of a situation when a child uses L1 mostly at home or in a group of friends and almost never for writing, while learning L2 at school and doing a lot of writing in L2. In this case, the child's writing ability in L2 will always exceed writing ability in L1.

Sure, it does. It is not only for writing; the same goes for almost all language proficiencies. There are research results on this.

Yes, there is a link between L1 ability and L2 development and there are studies that prove it. However, it is a complex question to provide a simple answer. I think it mainly deals with individual differences, and if we consider individual differences, there are many aspects to be discussed. I often get this question from my students (pre-service teachers) and my simple answer usually is that the research results have been mixed. One study that I discuss with students is by Sparks and Ganschow. They do prove that a world language learner who has stronger skills in the first language is more likely to be successful and ultimately more proficient than those with weaker L1 skills, including writing skills. Also, I think that both L1 and L2 writing ability depend on strong reading and vocabulary skills.

Thank you everyone for your intriguing answers.  I am going to pose a new question that will serve as a follow-up.  Please watch for it.

Sure it does. Writing is mostly an art. Good writing emanates from innate, deep-seated feelings; hence, good writers in their L1 will probably be good writers in a L2.

Definitely yes. Here is a link which includes the works of a colleague, an expert in the field.

https://kodolanyi.academia.edu/KiszelyZolt%C3%A1n

download his article "Cross-Cultural Rhetorical Studies in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language"

Definitely,  good writing invloves more of ideas, feelings and insights the writer develops  in the L1 that may touch the readers rather than just the skills or structures that can be aquired both in L1 and L2.  So we agree that a good translator (literary works) must be a good writer in the L1. Can this explain the decisive influence of writing ablility in L1 on that in L2 from another perspective? 

Linguistic features related to cohesion and linguistic sophistication will provide strong predictors of human judgments of writing proficiency. In contrast to these traditional measures of text, relatively little L2 writing research has been conducted using deeper-level linguistic measures. The  degree  of  transparency  in  a  particular  language  will  affect  the  amount of difficulty that writers experience  in encoding their ideas in written form. we  expect  that  the  contribution  of  these  kind  of  fluency  variables  to  the overall writing proficiency will be larger for L2 writing than for L1 writing.

hi,

pls find the attachment.

Best, adel

Mohammed Naoua - Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful reply.

Separate from these points, I wonder if you have any thoughts about how writing is organized in different primary languages that may or may not transfer well to second languages.